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A substance used and misused drugs including alcohol, illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine

marijuana, tobacco and misuse of medicine. These drugs lead them to lose their productivity, and

it caused disease and also premature deaths. In the present, the soldiers have been educated on

risks caused the drug’s use and misuse and also avoiding of behaviors that can risk their lives and

even the government has enforced policies that curbs the abuse of narcotics .solders used these

drugs because of the reduced pain.Solders used Heroine and opium mostly because it helped them

to stand the challenges they faced in the war environment. It is a fact the 43 percent of the soldiers

used these substances, and those who used them could not do without them .solders have been

believed to have used marijuana widely since the year 1980s .solders misused medicines which

were prescribed to the patients with injuries to relieve pain

During the Iraq and Afghanistan civil wars most of the soldiers experienced injuries and stressors

and trauma, during deployment until the military had to organize programs that dealt with

treatment and prevention. Because there was an increase in suicidal cases and also posttraumatic

stress .these programs were meant to enforce the troop on drug policies, and these sought to avail

treatment for the soldier for the soldiers suffering from combat acquired problems, and these

included the abuse of drugs. Since the year 2001, about 2 million soldiers have been assigned duty

in Iraq and Afghanistan.There are two parties involved in these war issues, Operation Enduring

Freedom (OEF; Afghanistan) and in Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF; Iraq) these two parties

address all matters concerning unhealthy use of drugs and all the conditions that are related to their

applications. Because of use of heavy machinery like guns and hand bombs which risk one life

and may lead to severe injuries like amputation also ladies end up testing positive in PTSD and
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even depressive symptoms but they are less likely to be associated with abuse of substances

problems.

When both psychological torture and abuse of substances there is more likeliness of cumulative

effect with multiple deployments.There are more problems of in the recent report of the deployed

persons than in the past, meaning there is more pressure, acute stress and marital problems which

leads to higher use of drugs by the combat. Since the year 2003, the nation has shown positive

response and attention on counseling soldiers, outreach and examining, prevention and also

resilience. The availability of public awareness and services in 2007 by America takes care of the

use of the unhealthy substance and the problems associated with their outcomes. Social workers

play a huge role during the provision of these services. Even after all these, the rate of alcohol use

and narcotic prescription remains high for the combat on duty.

In the past drugs were more used than in Iraq and Afghanistan by the soldiers. It was reported that

51 percent of soldiers had used marijuana and 31 percent had used psychedelics which are

mescaline and also psilocybin mushrooms. 28 percent had used hard drugs like cocaine together

with heroine .in this era the drugs were not limited since one could buy them in the black market

and even the military command gave the troop-heavy pills to improve their performance .there is

a report that says between the year 1966 and 1969 military soldiers had consumed 225 million of

stimulants tablets . In addition to these drugs, the military was given sedatives which helped in

relieve of anxiety and also in prevention of mental breakdowns, and it worked since the mental

breakdown rate was 1 percent .in this era marijuana and heroin so much used.

In conclusion, the drug used during the civil war of Iraq and Afghanistan because of the there

strategies used to curb them down as compared to the rate of their used before.During Iraq civil

war the drugs were controlled while as in the past the drugs were available and were sold in the
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black market, there were no campaigns on the misuses of drugs in the past, but in the present, there

is awareness of abuse.

Jakupcak, Matthew, et al. "Posttraumatic stress disorder as a risk factor for suicidal ideation in Iraq and

Afghanistan war veterans." Journal of Traumatic Stress: Official Publication of The International Society for

Traumatic Stress Studies 22.4 (2015): 303-306

Seal, Karen H., et al. "Substance use disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in VA healthcare, 2001–

2010: Implications for screening, diagnosis, and treatment." Drug and alcohol dependence 116.1-3 (2016):

93-101.

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